Free immersive exhibits at the National Infantry Museum & Soldier Center in Columbus take visitors through 240 years of U.S. history through the lens of a U.S. soldier. It’s one of the world’s top military museums and one of the top rated attractions in Columbus. (Photo courtesy of Jay Rosenblatt, Nationalinfantrymuseum.org)

These 10 excellent American museums – nominated by budget travel experts and voted as the best in the nation by USA Today‘s readers – all have something in common: they’re free!

The top 10 winners in the category Best Free Museum are as follows:

National Infantry Museum & Soldier Center – Columbus, Ga.

Cleveland Museum of Art – Cleveland

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force – Dayton, Ohio

Saint Louis Art Museum – St. Louis

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art – Bentonville, Ark.

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art – Kansas City, Mo.

Frye Art Museum – Seattle

Minneapolis Institute of Art – Minneapolis

The Museum at FIT – New York

American Computer & Robotics Museum – Bozeman, Mont.

A panel of experts partnered with 10Best editors to picked the initial 20 nominees, and the top 10 winners were determined by popular vote. Experts Shereen Rayle (Shereen Travels Cheap), Anna Hider (Roadtrippers) and Kim Orlando (TravelingMom) were chosen based on their extensive knowledge of budget travel in the United States.

Other nominated museums included the Baltimore Museum of Art, The Broad, The Getty Center, The Menil Collection, National Museum of Mexican Art, San Francisco Cable Car Museum, Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, USS Constitution Museum and The Walters Art Museum.